Indian PM gears up to travel to Ramallah tomorrow for historic visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Palestine via Jordan this weekend will be etched in history as India will now officially de-hyphenate its relationship with Palestine and Israel in more ways than one. Modi will also meet the Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and visit a painting exhibition by Ramesh Shukla, Suri said.

Though India has shied away from becoming a party in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the Palestinian leader on several occasions has stressed on a possible role for New Delhi in the Middle East peace process.

Modi will hold meeting with Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas and reaffirm support for the country and its development. The two leaders had discussed the Palestine issue then. India and Jordan enjoy friendly ties since diplomatic relations were established in 1950, Raveesh Kumar, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson, said.

The embattled president of the Indian Ocean nation has sent envoys to friendly nations such as China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to brief them on a political crisis that spurred the imposition of a state of emergency.

During the meeting, Modi told the King that he is looking forward to his visit to India in February end. PM Modi had visited Israel a year ago in July in a standalone visit that had led to many analysts questioning the future of the Indo-Palestine ties.

Stating that the UAE is a key source of energy, Kumar said the relationship has gone beyond buyer-seller to that of energy security cooperation - the UAE was the first contributor to the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an emergency fuel store.

In order to deepen the engagement, India and Palestine had undertaken the first ever historic ministerial level joint commission meeting in November 2016. This was followed by the visit of President Abbas to New Delhi in May 2017.

The fourth aspect, according to Bhaskar, is India's continuous support to the Palestinian cause at various worldwide fora.

Interestingly, unlike his visit to Israel in July a year ago, Prime Minister Modi will visit Palestine only for a few hours.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that he was "disappointed" at the Indian vote at the United Nations but also expressed hope that there will be a possible change of heart over a period of time.

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